Fans brave long, cold wait for tickets to game
Dozens of Red Sox Nation's finest huddled together in near-freezing temperatures outside Fenway Park overnight in hopes of landing seats for today's home opener.
For some, setting up camp outside the ballpark was a new experience; for others, it is a tradition.
Julian Crandall, 29, of Providence is a newcomer to Fenway stakeouts, but it is an experience he will surely repeat, he said.
"The way I look at it, there's 10 million people in New England who want to come. Anyone can do it, you just have to have the willpower," said Crandall, who was about 35th in line, along with four of his friends, a few of whom are familiar with the experience.
"We came the morning of last year, and we were at least 500 people back," said Crandall's friend Gina Reitano, the logo of her Sox hat blinking almost in time with the Citgo sign behind her. "We came for the whole experience this year."
Reitano, 39, Crandall, and their friends arrived at about 10:30 yesterday morning, Reitano said.
Sean Comau of Boston has camped out for Opening Day tickets the past five years. This year, he arrived at 6:30 a.m. yesterday, and was first in line.
When asked how he planned to pass the time, Comau, 24, said he would sleep a while.
"It's really rough [when you don't sleep] when you hit the fourth inning you get a little drowsy."
Mark Anderson is also a veteran of pregame camp-outs, though today's opener against the Detroit Tigers will be his last game for a while, he said, because he is moving from Maryland to Georgia.
"There's just an electricity in the air," said Anderson, 46, who described himself as a born and raised Red Sox fan from New Jersey.
Today's game against the Tigers has special meaning for Anderson. At the first game he attended at Fenway, in 1971, the Red Sox lost to the Tigers 12-8.
"I'm hoping for a better result," he said.
